The Anderson Collection at Stanford: An Uplifting Experience

September 24, 2014 6:51 PM

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Visiting the newly-opened Anderson Collection at Stanford requires taking everything -- your body and your expectations -- up a level. After entering the building's main lobby -- which will cost you nothing as the Anderson is free -- you will ascend a grand staircase that plateaus at the building's collection floor. Upon arrival, prepare to be confronted by the imposing red, black and ivory crags of Clyfford Still's monumental 1957-J No. 1 (PH-142). Still's uncompromising masterpiece sets the tone and sends a message: "You have reached the top of the art mountain."

Speaking at the building's dedication on September 18th, Stanford's President John Hennessy praised the Anderson's gift of 121 works by 86 artists as a "gift for the generations" and also noted with great pride that the Anderson would play a key role in the remarkable and ongoing "Stanford Arts Init...